BlackBerry 10 phones unveiled

New York: Cellphone maker Research in Motion on Thursday unveiled two new devices sporting its brand new BlackBerry 10 platform and also announced a rebranding to match its smartphone line.

The Canadian firm launched the long-delayed phones - Q10 with a physical keyboard and Z10 with a touchscreen keyboard - as it seeks to regain lost ground from rival platforms such as Apple's iOS and Google's Android.

Research in Motion, which makes the smartphones that pioneered instant email on mobile, also announced that it will now operate around the world under the name BlackBerry, effective immediately.

Hosting the main event in New York, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said "From this point forward, RIM becomes BlackBerry. It is one brand; it is one promise."

The new devices, whose success is widely seen as crucial for the company's long-term viability, run on the BlackBerry 10 operating system which has been redesigned to embrace multimedia, apps and touch-screen experience.

The BlackBerry Z10 will go on sale in March in the U.S., priced at $199 for a two-year contract with carrier Verizon Wireless and the Q10 is expected to go on sale in April with no word on the pricing yet.